CNN's The Eighties Episode 1 - Raised on Television

Nowadays, The 1980's have predominantly become a party theme for people my age. Big hair and loud colors. We almost forget we were born in the decade, a little too young to remember a lot of it. We were no doubt majorly influenced by it, however. The rise of MTV, the creation of the 24-hour news cycle, television taking off and becoming something that could be entertaining, but also a reflection of the world. It became okay to love television in the 80's.

I remember my parents talking about "L.A. Law" and "thirtysomething". I remember my Dad singing the theme song to the groundbreaking "It's Gary Shandling's Show". The music immediately popped into my head upon hearing of Shandling's recent passing.

Shows that had long runs that extended into the 90's I obviously have a greater recollection of, even if I wasn't sitting down and watching them every week. "Roseanne", "Cheers", "The Golden Girls" and "The Wonder Years" fit into that category.  Many of these shows I would become more aware of in syndication. I remember my Dad telling me to watch "Roseanne" later on in its run when the actress playing Becky was re-cast, and therefore morphed into a different person during the opening credit sequence.

It's interesting to think that as Walter Cronkite signs off the air in the early 1980's, he is considered at that point "the most trusted man in America". He would make way for Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, the anchors I remember well from childhood. CNN, ESPN, and MTV bring cable into the mainstream. The nighttime soap opera takes off and shows like "Dynasty" and "Dallas" become iconic. It's hard to think of there being a show like "Empire" today without them.  The first part of CNN's continuing series was fascinating to someone like me, born midway through the decade. I knew all the references, but didn't necessarily know the impact that the media world of more than thirty years ago had on today's news and entertainment.

CNN's "The Eighties" series continues on Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT.